GMC in Europe 2008

When was it? November, 2006? Ahhh, yessss…

We were rehearsing with the terrific choristers of Coginchaug High School in Durham, and singing about snakes and such. (Just to be Candide about it!)

And, following the concert, we started hearing about an idea that sounded wild and attractive at the same time: What if we were to organize a Chorale tour of several European cities?

One thing led to another, and after many meetings, presentations, and plummeting dollar rates, here we are, about to board our planes for the flight to Vienna.

It doesn’t seem like the day should be upon us so quickly, but here we are. It’s time to go.

We’re looking forward to posting lots of photos, perhaps a snippet or two of our performances if all goes well, and following Patricia’s advice about all things pastry (and her other advice that also turned out to be about pastry) and Adam’s intelligence about Czech beer. And most of all, we will be anticipating the day when we return and are reunited with our friends to put on an outstanding concert on May 4.

Because of the flight schedules, we’ll be “teleported” six hours ahead and thus launched into Friday before we know it. I don’t expect you’ll be seeing any blog entries until Friday evening. (Note we’re on Central European Summer Time — CEST — which is Greenwich Mean Time plus two hours. You should add six hours to Eastern Daylight Time to know what time it is in Austria and the Czech Republic.)

Keep reading this blog, and leave us lots of comments. Despite my ritual disclaimers, your comments are very much welcome and will keep us going during our tour!

Me again…the one NOT going and wishing she was… I want details…DETAILS ladies, and/or Colin (I know you have a sweet tooth). Wondering what to eat?

• Austrian Apple Strudel with vanilla sauce, Sacher Torte, rich chocolate cake with thin layer of raspberry or apricot jam served with whip cream.
• Linzer Torte, the famouse fruit tarte but not like we make.
• Damf Nudeln with plum filling and Vanille sauce—this big lump of steamed dough with a filling, usually plum or mohn (poppy seed) sometimes displayed in a tiny oven (if they have that up there)

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Hello everyone! Boy was that hard staying by last night knowing I would be missing SOooooooooo much fun with you wonderful people. Then all that Cake and wonderful bread and rolls you will be eating without me! 

I just wanted to chat about a few things that I thought could be useful when out and about. We are amid a bunch of savy experienced travelers so some of  you may know this already. 

There are some big differences with eating out in the States and in Europe. Firstly (and I am mostly speaking from what I remember from living in Germany- and being on tour), the service is slow—waiters and waitresses do not work for tips. So when tipping, you round off to the nearest Euro or giving a Euro is acceptable. Or, two or more if you feel like it was exceptional service.

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Well, I must tell you that connections are everything!  As it so happens my partner’s college-age daughter spent considerable time in Prague last summer and was kind enough to pass on her impressions.  Her report was most enthusiastic.  The following are some verbatim excerpts:

Language:  “Most people speak english, though knowing some czech is nice”.  Some suggested key terms spelled phonetically: 

“Dob-ry-den” means “good day, pardon, excuse me”.

“De-koo-yoo” is “thank you”.

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We heard some great advice about packing from Ann at Sunday’s rehearsal (thank you!), but I need to see it as well as hear it.

Here are links to relevant packing information from our airlines.

Lufthansa

Checked Luggage (note that 23 kg is approximately 50 lb)

Carry-on Luggage (note that 8 kg is approx. 17 lb; 55 cm ≈ 21.5 in; 40 cm ≈ 15.5 in; 20 cm ≈ 7.8 in)

Northwest/KLM

Checked Luggage

Carry-on Luggage

Transportation Security Administration (TSA)

Complete information about items accepted and prohibited at airport security checkpoints

Hope this helps!

Well, believe it or not I have come across yet another patient who is well-connected to Vienna.  She is an American native who spends the better part of each year in the city and she recently offered the following recommendations to us as it pertains to working the muscles of mastication and ambulation:

Consumption:

1.  DeCapo restaurant, in Schulerstrasse district.  A “European” Italian as opposed to “American” Italian place which is known for taking full advantage of seasonal foods, e.g. asparagus (”spargel”) and pumpkin, in order to always keep the menu fresh and interesting.  This is her favorite place in Vienna where she swears she has never had a bad meal.

2.  Cafe Demel, near the Hofburg.  A “MUST” for the best pastry.

Observation:

I personally don’t know what the following sights are, yet anyway, or what they signify, but these are what she recommends.  Some of you I’m sure are familiar with these places.  Please feel free to comment:

1.  Hofburg Palace

2.  Schloss Shonbrunn

3.  Stephansdom-a “Must See”.

4.  Kunsthistorches Art Museum- “Absolutely fabulous”.

5.  There is also a music museum, just off Kartnerstrasse, and a Freud museum (Rich, this one has your name written all over it.  I’d love to check it out with you).

There you have it, from someone who knows. 

Cheers,  Adam

I have the good fortune of having as patients a lovely couple who are native Austrians.  They have graciously forwarded a list of the best in Viennese dining establishments.  Here is the list complete with websites for some advanced reconnaissance if one so desires.  All of these places are in Vienna’s “inner city”, the Innenstadt:

Restaurants:

1.  Figlmuller- A Viennese tradition.       www.figlmuller.at

2.  Gusshaus- Viennese cuisine.    www.gusshaus.at

3.  Plachutta- Viennese cuisine.   www.plachutta.at

4.  Julius Meinl- A Viennese tradition for fine coffees/food

Wine cellars:

1.  Zwoelfapostelkeller- great wine/good food.   www.zwoelf-apostelkeller.at

2.  Augustiner Keller       www.bitzinger.at

3.  Melker Stiftskeller      www.melkerstiftskeller.at

Cafe:

1.  Cafe Landtmann beim Burgtheater    www.cafe-wien.at  

There you go.  As the Autrians say  “Wien, Wien, nur Du allein”.   

Enjoy,  Adam

So far we have had pretty good advice sent our way by John Coghill about notifying credit card companies about your planned travel, finding out which bank ATM’s in Europe will not charge a service fee for use, and info from Casterbridge on how much to budget.

Two more ideas (travel debit card and pre-purchase of Euro’s):

You can go to any AAA store, there is one in Cromwell I use, and purchase a VISA travel debit card (just use it like a credit card abroad and not a debit) that you pre-load money onto before you leave.

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For those of you boarding the bus at Cheshire, and planning to park your car:

Yes, we will have a designated section of the church parking lot set aside for you. There will be signage when you arrive.

Yes, it’s a safe place to park. No, it’s unguarded. Yes, the Cheshire police often stop in to have a cup of coffee and write reports while they sit in their cruisers. And yes, we like that.

Yes, I’d like to know your license plate number and name when you arrive. Yes, I’ll have a list at the door of the bus. And yes, we’ll hand it to the good people at the church office so they know your car is there.

Yes, this is likely to be much more convenient than driving your car to the airport and back. And no, I am completely not envious of the folks who are driving to Boston (unless of course they’re having a Wednesday evening “out” and having a great time, in which case my answer is Yes, I’m kind of envious).

And finally…

Yes, I made up some of these questions, based on questions I’ve already been asked.

But yes, I hope the questions I made up, and their real answers, will be reassuring to those of you who plan to park their cars here.

Leavin’ on a jet plane,

Don’t know when I’ll be back again…

Well, there is an itinerary. I suppose I could consult that.

We’re leaving one week from today. I’m excited!

I’m also checking to make sure

• I’ve made arrangements for the house while we’re gone
• I can see (heading to the optometrist this morning!)
• I have tickets and passport for the journey
• I’ve memorized my music where called for (why don’t those words stick?!)

We’ve received itineraries in an email from John C., and I plan to post them in the tour pages when I get a breath.

See you Sunday at Trinity, and again on Tuesday.

And again on Thursday morning, a week from today!